Speaker
Description
Iranian National Observatory (INO) is located on Mt Gargash at 3600m covering a gap in the longitude distribution of modern mid-size telescopes. The INO project is now in its final stage of completion and is approaching the first light. Major milestones including the civil construction, installation of the dome, manufacturing of the 3.4m optical telescope and installation of the telescope at the site have been completed. The telescope is going through engineering tests aimed at the commissioning of the pointing and tracking. A suite of instruments has been planned, taking advantage of a sub-arcsecond seeing and the longitude, including a high-resolution imaging camera and a spectrograph with the ability to switch between the instruments in response to transient events. INO offers a platform for regional and international collaborations in astronomy and cosmology.
